hissyfit

This is intended as a meeting place for folk interested in the music I make with Marcus Cliffe as Miracle Mile or my solo stuff as 'Jones'.
I hope it'll be fun and might host some healthy banter; giving me a chance to share some music, video, thoughts etc.
It can get a little lonely in the attic; why not slide a note under the door...

Monday, 1 June 2015

Catching up slowly here...
I'm still awaiting delivery of their new album 'Michigan' but I've just received my vinyl copy of The Milk Carton Kid's 2012 release, 'The Ash & Clay'.
It's a beautiful uncluttered thing, shimming with quiet poetry, deft touch and an intimacy of close harmony that brings to mind both Simon and Garfunkel and The Everly Brothers. Indeed there's a subtle tipping of the hat to Paul Simon's 'Graceland' in the closing song 'Memphis':"This is ain't a trip with my son, there's no guitar shines in the sun, those days are gone, may new ones come before it's all just a museum . . . Graceland is a ghost town tonight, I guess it's been a long decline, God bless the souls that shook up mine"

These are songs to wallow in, for beyond the cool veneer is a worldweary wisdom that beckons, embraces and binds; taps into your heart and mind and refuses to leave.

The swing sets are empty like dirt turned the dark of the nightthe center of this town it used to whirl in the glow of twilightit might look like God's away with all the trouble these dayswe'll come home before the girls are grownwe're coming home tonightWhat, oh, have we done to run this country into such a sightstolen from our brothers like we couldn't find a fair enough fightyou wait on promise you will saywon't forsake the ash and claylet's come home before the girls are grownlet's come home to fight

And to add gravity to the the loving luster we have liner notes from Joe Henry who concludes:

"For within these songs is a man himself in motion –a traveler who dances in silent, halting circles. And what he does is quietly bear witness like a weathervane, to the carnival of souls by the wayside, his eyes cornered but his face always pointing forward, his voice in our heads. He moves through love but is alone; laughs at the wreckage, weeps with lust; throws and sweeps confetti, stands at cold gravesides; raises a hand in promise, then picks your pocket and slips quietly back across the border. He slides outside the law, bound by honor and duty, the pure product of a mad country working with all its heart at fevered cross-purposes.In the end it is mercy he is after, the character in this play—the kind of mercy that attends grace when truly living in spite of the inevitable, when singing the unspeakable to the unlistening. ≈ And from Hiroshima to Graceland, this character knows that the whole of human foolishness must be witnessed, loved, and forgiven for that mercy to be ratified. Like Jesus and Harpo Marx, he does this for us all."

Saturday, 11 April 2015

I don't know if you are aware of this but Di and I run a small music venue The Hat Club, in Beaconsfield, Bucks.
Musicians are having a hard time of it at the moment.
Why not make The Hat Club a habit?It really helps Di and I (and the artists) if folk can commit early, pay their tenner and get their names on the club clip board.
This gives us the confidence of a decent turn out for the evening.
Guests are welcome.Ring: 01494 671307So, come on.
Get the date in your diary.
Bring the family.
Bring a friend or two.
Spread the word.
Musicians are an endangered species.
Live music is a good thing.
The Hat Club is worthy of your support.

The next Hat Club presentation should be something special.Brooke Sharkey and Adam Beattieare up and coming and quite seductive.
Di and I first heard their delicate strains at The Union Chapel in Islington where they enthralled a packed house. We knew immediately that they'd be perfect for The Hat Club.
London based singer-songwriter Brooke Sharkey was raised between France and England.
At the age of 16, her musician Father gave Brooke the best piece of advice, which was go out on the street and start busking the first few songs she’d written.
Since then brooke has released 2 Eps and her Debut album ‘One Dress’ released in December 2012 recorded at Livingston studios in London. She went on tour the UK, France and Italy with her backing band.
Brooke has lured a considerable audience with her intense and expressive style, drawing the listener into her ever more narrative songs with a spacious backdrop of chanson, blues, folk and Latin music.
Her current band consists of Adam Beattie on electric guitar and backing vocals, a singer/ songwriter in his own right who will share the bill with Brooke.
Her new EP ‘I Crossed the Line’ was released on the 28th May at Wilton’s Music Hall, London.
Brooke is currently working on her new album and is planning a Uk tour in April 2015 and play the UK festival circuit. There are also plans to be in Spain and Italy in July.

Friday, 27 February 2015

'Mystery' is the word... I write to discover... The poem has an intelligence that the poet doesn't have.'

I'd encourage all songwriters and lovers of song to listen to this wonderful interview. He manages to demystify the magical mysteries of the craft without breaking the spell. He also totes the challenges of opening your heart to others.'If you exorcise your demons your devils will leave too.'
I'm thralled by Joe's worldly wisdom.
A master of words, a sculptor of sound and a huge hearted hero... and I don't do 'heroes' but... I like Joe Henry​:

Songwriting’s a rum business.It’s like firing arrows into an empty sky and hoping that they’ll lodge in a tender heart whilst not taking anyone’s eye out… all the time knowing that your missives often end up lost, lodged in some fallow field. You want those arrows to be sharp and true, and to carry hopeful messages to the heart of the matter. To heal and not to harm. I’m humbled and happy to hear that we’ve hit the target with Paul Woodgate.Read his wonderful appreciation of Miracle Milehere on Paul's excellent site:Eye Level With the Stylus

Monday, 5 January 2015

'Friend of Rachel Worth' is David Ashley whose 'Cathedral of Sound' blog is sadly missed.

As you can see he still has an eclectic taste in music.

David writes:

Happy new year and as promised / threatened here are my favourite lps of the year. Apologies this was meant to 20 but grew and , meant to be a line on each but has kind of got fat on the turkey , so feel free to breakup , cut down , etc...

I’ve broadened it out to give a top 30 , so in true “in with a bullet” fashion here goes:

30 - From Scotland with Love By King Creosote - A marmite voice and by the reviews a marmite lp. Made to accompany a film about Scotland , the songs delve into social history through stories. There is nothing jarring here , the instrumentation match the caress of Kenny Anderson’s voice. One for late night listening with a single malt in hand - start with “Cargill”

29 - Avonmore by Bryan Ferry - His solo stuff for me falls into two camps , the smoother than smooth , polished out of all personality that while pleasant and proficient lacks the flint that creates a spark or the left field experiments in jazz or big band covers that might as well come with a big “progress at your listening peril” sign. However this got good reviews and so I took a punt. The craft and polish is there however the tunes have been remembered and a quieter , haunted , almost strained vocal style really suits. Feels like an older brother to Avalon the only slight jar is with the 2 covers of Send in the Clowns and Johnny and Mary. I cant quite work out if they really work or feel like a strange add on - start with “Avonmore”

28 - World Peace is None of Your Business By Morrissey - I’ve got pretty much all of Morrissey’s solo output and I really like probably a third , find a third okay and despair at a third. Not a great hit rate for the amount I have. I had this theory that anyone with real talent that brings out the best in him - Marr . Vinni Reilly , Stephen Street he ends up falling out with and goes to find comfort in mediocracy. How else to explain the endless dirge like chugging guitars that smother any kind of melody. Well this was a glorious surprise . The production is sparkling (closest in sound to his Viva Hate his first and best solo outing). There is the humour that made the Smiths so much more than misery merchants and the music is full of surprising flourishes . Vocally it is again his strongest lp for ages. The edition I got has 6 extra songs on a second lp , all of which were strong enough to appear on the main one. Ironic then that again he finds himself dropped and labeless. Start with “Staircase at the University”

27 - Jungle By Jungle - Got this after seeing them on Later. Sounds like a 70s funk band has discovered a time machine and landed in a modern day recording studio. A whole lp means the songs do blend into one long groove , but I defy anyone to listen to Busy Earnin and not start twitching and longing for an age before any dance floor moves had morphed into dad dancing - start with “Busy Earnin”

26 Present Tense by Wild Beasts - Slighltly disturbing , slightly deranged , kind of reminds me of a sinister mid period Talk Talk. Largely electronic backing with a focus on texture. Lulls you into a sense of relaxation but with a nagging doubt that all is not well that just wont go away - Start with “A Simple beautiful Truth”

25 So Long , See You Tomorrow by Bombay Bicycle Club - I've got a real soft spot for this band, so this was always going to probably feature somewhere. This is a dense poppy record , full of sing along choruses , bright shiny crunchy music and euphoric harmonies. A bit like the band itself it can suffer from a lack of real personality, but if I still went out on Friday night this would help me to get ready. Although not representative - the calm in the storm , start with “I can’t take my eyes off you”

24 La Petite Mort By James - This is in here due to the fact I cant separate it from hearing it launched live at a 1000 people gig that James carried out with new songs sprinkled among old favourites, obscure b sides and fan favourite lp tracks. An lp about death but death as a joyous celebration rather than a funeral procession. All the James clichés are correct and present , the phrase repeated 3 times as a chorus , the slightly irritating lyrics, the soaring trumpet, the guitar and violin duels , the catchy as hell melodies , etc and that is only lead off single the glorious Moving on (check out the video if you have not seen it) . Wont win any new fans and provides plenty of ammunition for those who don't like them, not their best but better than most of the rest, start with watching “Moving On” or listening to “Bitter Virtue”

23 Frozen Sight By Paul Smith and Peter Brewis - Taking time out from their main bands day jobs , this is one of those side projects that somehow sounds loads better than it should do. Featuring a travelogue of diary entries set to chamber pop backing the lp features post cards and photographs from around the world. I’m not sure what came first although I suspect it was the lyrics as at times you worry that the music in trying to find the rhythm is heading for a fall, the gorgeousness of the backing means that it is forever interesting rather than awkward. The lyrics by focusing on the mundane sucks you into the surrounding. Start with “Philly”

22 Long Way Down By Tom Odell - For some reason I think Tom Odell brings out the music snobbery in a lot of people . Not sure whether it is age or having the tenacity to cover a John Lennon song for John Lewis , or the choice of early Coldplay/Keane type sound. I came very late to this. “ She got a new boyfriend ,a little too soon if you’re asking me” - who has not felt that about someone and the lp is full of those universal truths told in an ache of a voice that bely the slightly safe backing. Start with “Supposed to Be”

21 Endless Days Crystal Sky By By the Sea - This is for all those people who miss the sound of Liverpool 1982. By the Sea mine a sound of Care , Echo and the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes and the Wild Swans. As with those bands there is a delicious use of melody which means they get away without sounding dated .. just. If Flaming Sword and Bible Dreams mean nothing to you then I guess this will have you scratching your head . Start with “Emily Says”

20 Beautitude #9 By The Orchids - One of those bands that have hit a second wind. The have their roots in that twee indie Sarah guitar sound. But then again they can produce slabs of dancey electronic music , pure pop songs , dream like ballads and sometimes they can mix all of these into one song. This is full of top pop tunes , not going to set the world on fire but too good to be lost from the radar. Start with “The Coolest Thing”

19 No-one is Lost By Stars - I can never understand why this Canadian band aren't massive. Then again the bastard child of New order and Prefab Sprout may not be everyone’s cup of tea. This feel like a final throw of the dice as it has a now or never overtly commercial feel . It is as if they have tried to make lp of singles cliché. Everything is bright and catchy to an extreme ,all squeaky crystal clean. I know it has disappointed Toronto Tim and I think I can see why. It is like buying a greatest hits lp ie it misses the light and shade of the more interesting lp tracks . As a result it is like having a sugar binge , addictive and dizzy but can end up feeling a tad nauseous and empty. The only one on the list that maybe works better for the ipod generation in that the whole is less than the sum of the glorious parts. Start with “Look Away”

18 Clumsy Knot By Randolph’s Leap - mmm how to describe this lot - space folk, psychedelic country , country pop , who knows. Scottish band full of quirky songs with left of centre lyrics. Scabs are picked , the absurdities of life are explored, sores are poked , relationships painted in all their ugly beauty. Asked to explain why the singer doesn't like and ex’s new man , the response is “he talks like a weather man” and you cant argue with that. Start with “Weatherman”

17 Dizzy Heights By Neil Finn - I wasn't going to get this . I’d been stung by the Pyjama Club and the last Crowded House. The first single seemed to confirm all my fears , but then I saw him on later and got sucked in by both songs he did there. The lp does try something different in terms of sound , but it doesn't get in the way of the tunes and in Recluse, Flying in the Face of Love and Dizzy Heights he has written three of his best. Start with “Recluse”

16 The Breaks by Martin Carr - As the songwriter with the Boo Radleys , his songs flitted from purest pop to weirdest wig outs often in the space of a verse. Vocals were never going to be the strongest part of this lp , so to compensate we get simply belting hook laden pop tunes and harmony saturated ballads. An extra point also for a song attacking the noxious Katie Hopkins called “Senseless Apprentice”. Like By the Sea there is a mid 80s Liverpool feel to the production but this time for those that mourn the Pale Fountains. Start with “Santa Fe Skyway”

15 Everyday Robots by Damon Albarn - I could always take or leave Blur for every Universal there was a Country House and Goriillaz just felt a tad too gimmicky , so I am not quite sure why I took a punt on this. Apart from a Wings of a Dove type interlude , this is a very mellow , reflective down beat lp. The songs have subtle shading with electronica mixed in with the band instrumentation. The lyrics are grownup , with a sense of a mid life pause if not crisis. Its a low key affair and much the better for it . Start with “If lonely Press Play”

14 Ruckers Hill By Husky - Husky’s debut from a couple of years ago was one of great discoveries. A folk indie band of which there were many and they did seem to get lost in the crowd. Coming from Australia they have a slightly different feel to a lot of stuff in a similar vein. Their second lp is even better. There are more straight forward pop songs whilst still keeping the harmonies , the layered sound. Its a summer record full of pollen .Start with Rucker’s Hill

13 Seven Dials By Roddy Frame - This year I saw the Boy Wonder play one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to in the High Land anniversary concert, which meant a sense of expectation was heightened even more than the long wait since the last lp. Seven Dials is a really good lp but sums up this year for me in music , lots of relly good lps but not too many great ones. Having said all that it is full of sparkling songs pulling on styles from throughout his career and it is great to have him backed by a band again. I’ve got a feeling that in 5 yrs time this will be one of the lps that has grown with age - Start with “The Postcard”

12 Loads By Alien Envoy - Why isn't Nick Kelly hailed as one of the song writing greats? There isn't anything radical here just song writing of the highest quality. Not boxed in by the usual singer songwriter backing, there are noisy rants , driving pop songs , sad snippets , caustic wit and heart stopping moments of beauty. start with “Small Loads”

11 Open up the Colouring Book - The Pearlfishers - So to the cottage industry that is David Scott. No changes to the beach boy harmonies sugar sweet backing template. You will either find this sailing close to parody or like me you will wallow in a sugar high. I know some feel differently but for me the quality doesn't drop over the 16 tracks. Start with the heart stopping “Her Heart Moves Like the Sea Moves”

10 Herd Runners By Cherry Ghost. This was another nice surprise . I liked the debut lp in places but thought the 2nd one was a big disappointment. Herd Runners is a joy (even if the joy as an ache at its core). The tunes are back and the backing is beautifully timeless almost Bacharach in places. A soft and warm woolly jumper of a record full of love and loneliness . Start with Love will Follow You

9 Mutineers By David Gray - Maybe this is the year for artists who have been chugging along making okay records to rediscover their mojo , ignore the record company and go sod it. David Gray’s last 2 lps have been okay and if I’m honest I put this on my xmas list more out of habit than anything else. I’ve not lived with it long but it gets better with each play. This has the song at its heart and is full of care and craft. Just as you think you know where the song is going there will be touch of instrumentation , a melody build , etc. that takes it to the next level . Start with Last Summer

8 New Gods by Withered Hand - Withered Hand is the recording name for Scottish songwriter Dan Wilson. It has all the trademarks of a classic Scottish lp , guitars jangle with clever word play and melodies that get lodged in your brain. The lp starts with “Here go , Pigeon toed to the feather weight fight and before they knocked me down , did you put a horsehoe in my glove?” which kind of sums the whole lp up. As catchy as hell , sad and life affirming at the same time which is a hell of trick - Start with “New Gods”

7 Islands By Bear’s Den - Imagine Mumford and Sons (no come back) with all the good bits and none of the bad bits and with the added benefit of not simply repeating the same song 10 x on an lp, you have Bear’s Den. Nothing radical or reinvented but 10 tales beautifully told. Start with “The Love We Stole”

6 All the Luck in the World by All the Luck in the World - This irish band and they could only be from island have made an lp of haunting , fragile songs in the same family as Stornoway. a thing of eloquent beauty. At its heart an acoustic lp with the added instrumentation providing the light and shade supporting the intimate vocals. This year,s best debut by a mile Start with Haven

5 To the Bone - By Jones - This may well have been higher but I get stuck on putting Phil the Hat on endless repeat - my song of the year that captures everything I love about Mr Jones’s music Start with “Phil the Hat”

4 Morning Phase by Beck - I hadn’t got anything by Beck , finding most of his early stuff annoying at best and in Loser obnoxious at worst. He was one of those artists that critics seemed to love but I always got a squint of the emperor’s new clothes. However this is gorgeous , like being lost in a melancholy summer dream. Also it gets double points as it led me straight to the sister lp Sea Change - Start with Heart is a Drum

3 My Favourite Faded Fantasy by Damien Rice. - O was a classic , 9 was a tough listen and then nothing. I am a sucker for the sad songs as they tend to say it best , and this is an lp of sad songs. He has rediscovered some of the quirkiness of sound of O , but what saves it from 9s uncomfortable self loathing is the warmth of the production and keeping any woe is me ranting in check with the tunes. Start with “I Don’t Want to Change You”

1= Hendra By Ben Watt - I cant separate my top two and they are there for opposing reasons. First of all I was rejoicing that Ben Watt had picked up a guitar and put on hold the life of a superstar dj, but I didn't expect it to be quite this good. As with Tracy Thorn’s last lp (not counting the xmas one) this is a proper grown up lp. I don't mean coffee table , dinner party grown up , but the grown up of looking back with nostalgia and regret , looking forward with hope and fear. No Tracy but he picks his collaborators well . Bernard Butler’ s guitar provides texture and support whereas it could have dominated. He is much better at the personal and the only slight misfire is the anti gun lyric on one track, although the sublime guitar makes up for it. Lets hope the guitar is here to stay. Start with “Forget”

1= Lost in the Dream by The War on Drugs - I love this for exactly the opposite reasons I do
Hendra. I doubt anything I write will create any converts but here are the 5 reasons it is number one for me:

1- it has a song that I feel will stay one of my favourites for a very long time

2 - It manages the trick of wearing its influences proudly but still sounding fresh

3 - It is an lp of one continuing , flowing mood ,an lp to put on the headphones lie back and get lost in

4 - It feels epic and intimate at the same time

5 - it has those great 80s type lyrics that can mean nothing to everything

Start with Under the Pressure
So there we go Trev Happy New yearFriend of Rachel Worth

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

Never make lists in haste.
You'll miss the bleeding obvious:
The butter
The milk
The porridge
Somehow my Top 10 of the year omitted these 3 gems.
Haven't got time to wax lyrical.
Just let me tip my hat.
So, that's 14 in my Top 10.
Is that ok?

Sunday, 21 December 2014

5: Passengers: Whispers'I've a big old heartThis I know for sureBut I don't know what my love is forI should know by now...'

This might raise a few eyebrows.
I'm not usually swayed by 'likability' but I found this guy irresistible. Mike Rosenberg wears that big old heart on his sleeve and sings out load and clear. These messages don't need decoding, Mike's got the sensibilities of a trembling 5th former - he wouldn't have fared well at my boarding school - but sometimes there's a guilty pleasure in the recognition of the bleeding obvious. There's certainly a calming comfort and reassurance in his predictability. He delivers exactly what you want of him and sometimes that's the perfect pop fix.
Whilst Ed Sheehan seems like a perfectly nice bloke his music makes my teeth ache.
Rosenberg sweetness is addictive.
In fact, let's call him 'The Haribo of Heartache'.

4: First Aid Kit: Stay Gold"I could move to a small town and become a waitressSay my name was Stacy and figure things out"

Not just because Miracle Mile mainstay Melvin Duffy colors it so beautifully with his keening pedal steel, but also because the Söderberg sisters have gone for a widescreen production that could have spelt disaster but simply spells the word 'wonderful'.
For an album that's so sonically assured there's a slight dissonance in the song content. These are tales of regret, transience and uncertainty and yet the assured production and performance creates a strange alchemy that renders the rusty regrets golden."What if to love and be loved is not enough? What if I fall and can't bear to get up? Oh, I wish, for once, we could stay gold".

3: John Fullbright: Songs

I loved Fullbright's debut 'From the Ground Up' and 'Songs' was no disappointment. Di and I saw Fullbright perform this album in concert recently and he managed to breath some life into the King's Hall; the second most lifeless venue in London after The Barbican. (I'm with you on that Paul Woodgate!)
On 'Songs' he's ditched the acoustic turned to the piano for much of this hushed set. Don't be misled by the opening salvo 'Happy'. “Tonight I’d rather think of you, try to close my eyesAnd I’ll just wonder what’s so bad about happy.”

For from what follows it seems that the boy's had his heart broken and the aching is stripped bare, unrelenting and quite delicious.
He's lost and lonely and these songs offer no solutions; all John can do is illuminate the heartache:“As for lonely, I could show you how to live a life aloneAll it takes is getting used to getting lost.”

He articulates the pain with an off kilter singular sensibility and tenderness that reminds me of a young Jimmy Webb:“In my heart stands a scarecrow,

If he’s hurt, he doesn’t say so

When he chases everything he loves away

But at night when it’s colder

there’s a bluebird on his shoulder

And he whispers that he’ll hold her one bright day.”

= 2: Rosanne Cash : The River and the ThreadYup, I bottled it; a joint second place for these two queens of country.

"The things you push away when you’re young often become the very things you embrace when you’re older"

In her first set of original material since 2006's 'Black Cadillac' Cash's reconnection with America's deep south is key. After spending much of her youth distancing herself from her parents' overpowering influence she was bound to be drawn back to their roots. And the title 'The River and the Thread' suggests the flow of this tardy rights of passage; a confluence of influence and lineage, a returning to the source, so to speak.
It's a musical road trip of sorts, taken down the rivers and back roads of the Deep South with her longtime collaborator and husband John Leventhal, who took the cover shot of Rosanne on the Tallahatchie Bridge, made famous by that Bobbie Gentry song.
Cash remembers the genesis of the record:

"One day about a year ago, John and I started in Memphis and we drove to Oxford, Mississippi and went to Faulkner’s house. Then we went to Robert Johnson’s grave in Greenwood, Mississippi — what they think is his actual grave now, there’s some dispute — and then on to Money, Mississippi, where Emmett Till was killed. Around the corner, literally, is the Tallahatchie Bridge. I was standing on the bridge, looking at the Tallahatchie River. John took that snapshot from behind, and said, "That's an album cover." It's this vortex of profound musical inspiration and revolution. The civil rights era began because of Emmett’s murder, right there, right around the corner from the Tallahatchie Bridge. It's mind-boggling."

The twosome visit each musical styling with confidence and élan; never outstaying their welcome.
The focus, playing and singing are pitch perfect.

= 2: Lucinda Williams: Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone'Pitch perfect' isn't a phrase that would rest easily with Lucinda Williams's lazy Louisiana drawl. You wonder if Williams has ever hit a pure note in her life but it's a wonderful wail. And you sense that Williams is having a wail of time trying to find the road to recovery. Where Rosanne is surely partial to sipping a Mint Julep or two you can bet that Lucinda is necking her bourbon straight from the bottle. But there's a persuasive poetry in detail and delivery that renders her surly slur both sensual and essential. You'd think as a double album (104 generous minutes) she might be in danger of outstaying her welcome, but every song is perfectly judged, even a 10 minute visitation of JJ Cale's 'Magnolia. It's also a guitarist's heaven with a masterclass from the finessed frets of Tony Joe White and Bill Frisell who bring subtlety and focus to the dense, swampy undertones.
Rosanne Cash sings "I'd like to have the ocean, but I'd settle for the rain" as if she's content with having the choice. You kind of know that troubled waters and grey skies are imperative as the natural backdrop to Lucinda's malaise.

World weary, weather beaten and a little wobbly she might be, but Williams remains spirited, vibrant and as vital as ever, buoyant amongst the flotsam and jetsam; proud and provocative, resilient and magnificently defiant, even in the face of the stormiest weather.

1: Joe Henry 'Invisible Hour'

No contest, although this was a slow burner. Because it's an album that demands your attention this took a while to insinuate itself. But once it lodged within it stayed long. I enthused about this in an earlier blog so won't bang on too much. This is popular music of the highest order; beautifully produced, artfully rendered, with songs that are lyrically dense, occasionally bordering on the impenetrable (we are dealing with with the mysteries of the heart) yet pitched by a voice that you totally engage with.
It's a 'relationship' album, concerned with the vagaries and minutaie of Joe's own marriage and “the redemptive power of love in the face of fear upon which this house is built.” It's a brave album because it mutters the unutterable, detailing the fallout when two hearts collide and blood is shed. We know that blood doesn't mix, even if it "tastes like honey". What pulls us together can push us apart. It's the fine detailing of these raw and often unquantifiable dynamics that makes this such an enthralling and challenging piece. There are no easy answers, no hearts and flowers, no lipstick sunsets. 'Invisible Hour' is about seeing the unseeable and recognizing its worth. In attempting to map such secret fault lines it casts a keen but troubled eye on the taboos and mysteries of life and love; the transience of passions; the way that time inexorably casts shadows on the heart whilst somehow unlocking and exposing every chamber. Offering more questions than answers its poetry is oblique and mysterious, often willfully unfocussed. Henry sings “I want nothing more than for you to hear me now,” in'Plainspeak' and yet the meaning is far from clear.It's woozy ciphers are like sirens beckoning us into a dreamlike state and we can but be entranced; the aural equivalent of deliberately un-focussing your eyes to find the hidden image in a stereogram.

It's an album that you must engage with.
In fact it's an album that you don't really listen to.
You absorb it.
It's music stripped bare.
It's love stripped bare.
It gets to the heart of the matter and distinguishes it as flesh and blood... a bit of a pulpy mess.'I take all this to be holy If futile, uncertain and dire Our union of fracture, our dread everlasting This beautiful, desperate desire'

Celebrating both fragility and strength, 'Invisible Hour' looks love unflinchingly in the eye, recognizes its disappointments and imperfections, acknowledges the desperation of desire; totes the victories and defeats, runs its finger along the scars caused by those daily collisions and wears them proudly.

Friday, 19 December 2014

Bittersweet.
It's been a ho-hum kind of a year all round.
A little unrest goes a long way in our house.
We like things calm and settled.
The smallest troubles can cause unease so... when the wheels do come off big time we struggle.
Central to our unrest was the decline in Di's Dad's health.
Harry finally passed away in October.
If there's such a thing as 'a good death' his was one.
He was laughing with Dot, the love of his adult life (hip to hip for 64 years) and when she left the room (to answer the phone) Harry let go and left too.
No fussing.
Typical Harry Holmes.

Music is a balm and was never more so than in 2014.
Di likes to dance; I love a dirge.
Accordingly, I moved towards the sombre rather than the samba...
And those who know me know that I like a sad song.
Don't say you weren't warned.
Here's 10 - 6 of my favorite albums of 2014.
I'm not saying that they're the best.
Or even the best I heard.
They were just the one's that were there when I needed them...

10: The Delines: Colfax

Heaven? In the parlance of country music, if hell is other folk, then heaven is surely other folk's hell. In that land of endless opportunity, schadenfreude is a divine diversion from the minutiae of disappointment; relief from the mundanities of ordinary lives lived regretfully. Let's wallow in the misery of others and let's call it 'Americana'. This genre hosts a very American brand of unrelenting misery. There's no whistling kettle to call you home, no warm bath where the hot water tap is balmy hope incarnate. Here the dilapidated Diner's coffee is cold and bitter, the motel's plastic shower curtain remains ripped and stained, the trickling water, hard and lukewarm.The Delines is a side project from Willy Vlautin. His prime persona will always be that of the lead singer with Richmond Fontaine, rampant reviewers of all things Americana, but Willy's so full of creative juice that there's little fear of him spreading his grits too thin. He's fast establishing himself as one of America's finest authors; his literary eye resting on the underbelly (or arse end) of blue collar America, with a particularly harsh focus on masculinity and what makes men cry. He's mentioned in the same breath as Raymond Carver and Sam Shepherd and it's no faint praise. Vlautin casts a similarly relentless gaze on the folks of 'Colfax'.

Apparently there's a Colfax Avenue in Denver, frequented by delinquents and broken spirits. This inspired the sense of place, if not the location for these sorry tales. Except here Willy brilliantly twists his viewpoint from tawdry testosterone to the one of a doleful female protagonist, as voiced by the beautifully mournful tones of Amy Boone from The Damnations. Where Springsteen offered 'magic in the night' as relief and 'wheels for wings' as speedy escape and redemption, there are some tramps too tired to run; or who simply can't afford the gas. Enter Amy Boone.

There's much weeping in these plangent laments. Although occasionally buoyed by the inevitable flashes of false hope, it's a sad illumination; the lights of home are nowt but futile fog, the lights on the horizon are the toxic glow of the local oil rigs. It's a dirty world of small towns, populated (or polluted) by hard drinkers and harsh truths. Sad souls bend or break; nothing is savored; food is fast, bottles are opened and emptied, cards are dealt and the game is seldom won; the only hope on offer comes from the jukebox in the corner of the smoky barroom. Although Boone plays many parts in this song cycle, she details the slow fade of her 'everywoman' with such candor and grace that you can't help but weep for her; she's probably too tired for tears. Witness her fading beauty in the the early morning half light as she prepares for another soul sapping shift. At the day's pay off you can sense her embarrassment at revealing her stretch marks and tired thighs to yet another one night stand. Hers is the flip side to the the sepia wide screened romances of Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell. Way back then, fresh dawns and soft sunsets backlit the wholesome heartache of 'Galveston' and 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix'. But there's no 'Witchita Lineman' to connect Amy to distant love here. Where are the sweet whisperings? 'And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time'. There's no such nobility here, no beatific oaths and commitments in these sad tales. Each day is simply a struggle towards sunset. The abiding mood is one of regret and ennui in a world where the day's sole purpose is to foreshadow the next day's duties; as prophetic as the dots that join each pathetic dawning to the next. There are moments of spirited resistance to her circumstance and the company she keeps, “I ain’t riding through the night in broken down cars with skinny friends with dying eyes, in the violence of a losing streak,” and sure, there's dignity and grace in that struggle, but you kind of know that if our heroine succeeds in escaping the bad company she is destined to end up lonesome.
There are moments of defiance but ultimately the tone is one of resignation, acceptance and, inexorably, defeat.
The band plays loose and Boone summons up the ghost of Bobby Gentry.
All's not well, the heart aches, swells and breaks.
And it's a beautiful sound.
Heavenly.
And in Colfax heaven is other folk's hell.
Go figure...

9: Robert Ellis: The Lights From the Chemical Plant"The lights from the chemical plant burn bright in the night like an old kerosene lamp"Robert Ellis also offers sanguine observations on injury and recovery but although he inhabits a similar kind of environment as Colfax, Ellis's glass seems more half full than empty. And he's more likely to raise that glass rather than throw it at you.
There's a healthy dose of optimism to temper the troubles, perhaps benefit of Robert's ability to escape into his imagination.

"I'm a gunfighter, I'm a bull riderI'm the captain of some pirate ship at sea

For a couple of hours I've got super powers...

God bless you Walt Disney, you were a father to me

You kept me company when no-one else had the time"

The music is still unmistakably 'Americana' but it's lighter, almost with a pop sheen. And yet the musicality can take a sudden sharp turn up a darker street, where there's always the shiver of strings to temper the twang.

'Steady As the Rising Sun' puts me in mind of a Gram Parsons of young Glen Campbell.

Ellis is not above finding refuge in a bottle of wine and a bag of cocaine and is worldly enough in his recognition of life's other comforts:

“Only lies can comfort you

Only lies will see you through”

It's the inability to catagorise this gently unsettling album that makes it such a joy. The tenderness and tension make for a heady mix. The easy pleasure is in it's lightness, but there's a real frisson of excitement in knowing that those moments are often a prelude to some gorgeous moments of darkness and despair. Misery loves company and Robert Ellis is great company.

In the final song on the set, the breathtaking narrative of 'Tour Song' reminds us of the raw heartache and bitter insecurity that underpins much of country music's sweetest moments.

“Soon she’ll start to wonder what it is that I provide

And why the hell a husband can’t be by his woman’s side.”

These troubedours... they really do suffer for their art (tis so) and then they have the temerity to expose those wounds for us to pore over; sweet schadenfreude indeed.

And love's sweet sorrow n'er tasted so bitter, yet the flesh wounds never seemed so recoverable as they do when illuminated by The Lights From the Chemical Plant.

8: Adam Cohen: We Go Home

On a lighter note...
Who'd have thought that I'd be looking towards the Cohen family for light relief?
He has his father's dark looks and quivering bass timbre, and he too has a way with words and easy melody.
Leonard always was a lady's man and you get the impression that Adam's a chip off the old bloke; using his poetry and prose to impress the chicks as much as the critics.
There's certainly a Lothario's strut evident here:

And yet this album (his 5th) is full of big hearted melodies embellished with tasteful restraint. It's literally a 'home made' album; recorded at his family homes in Montreal and on the Greek island of Hydra. Despite his undeniable lineage there's no sense of entitlement on show. No histrionics, no musical parade and posturing. He seems at ease with what he's been bequeathed. He creates his ditties easily on Dad's nylon string guitar. It's that relaxed modesty that makes these songs so likable. He does reference Pater a lot (“You’ll be hearing his voice, like you’re hearing it now”) but there's enough about Adam and his easy charm to make him the first man here. Although this is an intimate offering there's a life enhancing positivity that just jumps out of the grooves and chirps 'like me!' Adam is your affable best looking friend. The one that always gets served first at the bar. The one that gets all of the beautiful girls, firstly as lovers and then as best friends too. And yet he'd be that one friend who, if push came to shove, would lend you his last condom.

7: Simone Felice: Strangers

I always liked The Felice Brothers although there was a tendency towards raucous 'Waitsism' that I often found unconvincing.
Simone left the band in 2009 to record as The Duke and the King which was more up my alley. The combination of unflinchingly observed storytelling and church chords was a sucker punch to my glass jaw.
And I love a tremulous voice.
All boxes ticked here on his sophomore solo album. It seems more focussed than his 2012 solo debut. With his literary bent to the fore, Felice's songs alternate between the sorrowful and the uplifting, although the apparent morbidity of closer 'The Gallows' somehow manages both at the same time.
I cannot source that wonder.
This isn't a bad second choice...

6: Adam Holmes: 'Heirs and Graces'

John Wood is celebrated for producing some of Folk music's finest marvels, including the classic early 70s albums of Nick Drake and John Martyn. Wood has been in semi retirement of late, running a B&B in Edinburgh apparently. One listen to Adam Holmes was enough to drag him back into the studio. And his alchemy is everywhere on this wholesome delight.

At 23 Adam Holmes is an old soul; I've met him and his is a well furrowed brow:'Awkward silence fills a crowded roomYou would understand if you were meAnd I can't even hold a conversationWith a shadow where a man’s supposed to be'

And yet he unburdens his world weary troubles with a delicacy and compassion that's hard to resist. There's a pre-bile sweetness to the curmudgeon-lite wisdom that sings of the joys of the uninitiated. Perhaps this comes from being steeped in a Celtic musical tradition that celebrates everyday drama with laments of love and loss but won't tolerate self pity. This lightness is enhanced by Adam's admitted love of 70s songwriting troubadours such as James Taylor and Jackson Browne.
So, easy listening?
Indeed, but there's no saccharine here on Adam's excellent debut.
This is sweet soul music for folk who like their folk with just a little twist of bitterness.

AKA everybody else is doing it, why shouldn’t I? Yes, it’s time for my Top Ten Albums of 2014 which will be completely subjective, with surprising omissions, astonishing inclusions and, quite frankly, an order that defies belief. In other words, just like all the other lists. Except it’s mine. So, to business.

10. Remedy – Old Crow Medicine Show. OCMS have been around for what seems like forever so sometimes you forget what a breath of fresh air on the bluegrass scene they were when they arrived and this is their best album since their debut.

9. Best Medicine – The Stray Birds. Their eponymous debut was one of the best of last year and the acoustic folk/bluegrass/country/roots trio deliver more of the same this time round. Great harmonies, great playing, great songs.

8. Going Down To The River – Doug Seegers. Seegers is the real deal. Homeless and playing for change, a genuinely heart-warming story leads to this debut album made at the age of 61. When people talk about authenticity, this is what they mean. Seegers has lived it and you can hear it in his voice and his songs. The title track is a classic and the rest of the album is snapping at its heels.

7. lullaby and… THE CEASELESS ROAR – Robert Plant. Wherein rock’s great front man and sonic experimenter, together with his best ever band, the Sensational Space Shifters, returns to the rock/folk/world fusion he’s so good at and also displays his vulnerable side. Majestic, as were the live shows.

6. Diamonds On The Water – Oysterband. Their first album since losing long-time bassist/cellist Ray Cooper, this could have a been a step back or a holding set. But it wasn’t, rather a creative rebirth with some of their best songs and playing. Thirty years down the road the fire still burns.

5. The History of New Orleans Rhythm And Blues 1955 – 1962 – Various Artists. Six CDs, over 180 tracks, exemplary packaging and booklet, some of the greatest music ever made and only £22. An object lesson in how to produce a reissue, with hours and hours of listening joy, from Sea Cruise to Lucille, Land of 1000 Dances to Sweet Sixteen. Bliss.

4. The Elizabethan Sessions – Various Artists. Set up by the EFDSS and Folk By The Oak, this collaboration between some of the finest folk artists around was an unalloyed triumph. Despite being created in less than a week, the quality of songs is astonishingly high, the playing likewise and all the potential pitfalls spectacularly avoided.

3. Centenary – Show of Hands, There have been a lot of Great War albums and songs this year but none approached Centenary. Poems read by actors Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter with traditional and original pieces by Show of Hands, it was appropriate, powerful and deeply moving. The best thing they’ve ever done, which is saying something.

2. Nothing Can Bring Back The Hour – Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker. I have proclaimed these two as future stars ever since first hearing them and, good though their previous work has been, this is not only their best yet but an album that takes folk music as a whole forward. Masterful songwriting and that voice from Clarke, great interpretations of traditional pieces, beautifully deft guitar work from Walker, this is as good as folk music gets in 2014.

1. To The Bone – Jones. Trevor Jones of Miracle Mile fame delivers his best solo album yet, which is

saying something. Exquisite heartbreak, devastating insights and words that cut, yes, to the bone, allied to impossibly beautiful melodies and perfectly judged playing and singing.

Monday, 15 December 2014

As you can see, he knows his onions...Why not add your list at the bottom under 'Comments'?Or, you could email me your list and comments and I'll post separately...Come on. We all like a list.Mine follows shortly...

TORONTO TIM's - BEST OF 2014

Excellent year for new music! There won't be many surprises listed here, since I've already tipped my cards earlier in the year via several 'hissyfit' postings.

Sunday, 16 November 2014

Thanks to all of you who have sent birthday wishes.
You've made a bold man very sappy...
My birthday started early; yesterday Di took me to the 'Ja Ja Ja' fest in Shoreditch. It was a wonderful celebration of Nordic music, culture, food etc. Lots of Icelandic beer; particularly one fine Pale Ale, not too pallid at a stonking 7.5%! It helped to wash down renowned Finnish chef Antto Melasniemi's wonderful food. I ate a lot of face (and I'm not talking about snogging Holmsey). How does Crispy Catfish Cheeks in Icelandic Beer Batter with Seaweed Salt sound? It tasted even batter... Followed that with a Lamb's Cheek sandwich with Crispy Red Cabbage and a Dulse Seaweed Creme Brûlée. Just awesome.
We watched a screening of Bjork's 'Biophilia Live' documentary and then sat through a presentation of The Best of Nordic Music Videos from Andre Chocron, Dan Kragh Jacobsen and artist Jenny Wilson. We then watched Jenny's dynamic set and lounged around the bar, meeting some interesting folk; particularly another 'elderly' couple (we were on a uni campus) Andy and Lizzy. I got mistaken for 'someone famous' by one youngster who was disappointed to hear Di's whispering response (Didn't want to hurt my feelings) that I was no one special really...
We also bumped into the lovely, irascible Emiliana Torrini, our main reason for being there. Di and I met up with Emiliana in Aarhus in 2012 at the festival when I played at the opening Gala. She introduced Di to the word 'Sshpaaaarklaay' and me to Japanese Single Malts so... she has a lot to answer for. She played a blindingly beautiful set, drawing mainly from her recent 'Tookah' album which I recommend to anyone with half a heart.

I'd guide their other half, to what Emiliana half heartedly describes as her 'duvet album'. Fisherman's Woman' is a stunning folkish thing of great beauty, Buy it now here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fishermans-Woman-Emiliana-Torrini/dp/B0002JEP6O/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1416140839&sr=1-5&keywords=emiliana+torrini
Home the long way around as the M40 was closed at both ends... I think that we came home via Birmingham; still, we got to listen to Tookah 3 times through... every cloud...
And then... up this morning to my right ear being folded into four (why?) and then that same ear bent again by Di's rendition of 'Happy Birthday'.
Ditto from Dot.
Di and her Mum both have Van Gogh's ear for a tune...
Card opening and coffee.
Two lovely presents from Di: Sylvie Simmons﻿ Leonard Cohen bio 'I'm Your Man' which I've coveted a while...

... and a beautiful 'coffee table' book 'Remembered for a While', a celebration of Nick Drake's life and music.
Nick Drake has been the soundtrack to the morning.
His back catalogue is heartbreakingly brief; 2 hours flew by.

Next we were on to Leonard's exquisite, unsurpassable debut, (Oasis? Really?) before being whisked away for a surprise lunch with the caveat "don't expect it to be what you initially think it to be..." and "dress smart, jeans will be fine..."
Umm, ok...
I'll be happy as long as I don't have to eat a beast's face. Been there, done that...

Back, much later; fed and watered.
Pissed and stuffed actually...
A posh curry with the noisy neighbors.
Leonard sings a lullaby:"Ah the wind, the wind is blowing... freedom soon will come. Men will come from the shadow..."
Di's hopeful.
Me?
Bed...

Friday, 7 November 2014

'It was like learning how to walk again, a little bit like going for a walk in the woods without really knowing where you're going"'

I like a sad song.
I was taken by the heartache of Damien Rice's debut 'O'.
It seemed like a genuine outpouring, coming on both sanguine and sad, it was beautifully restrained and contained, with Lisa Hannigan providing a detached and wonderfully calming foil for the injured party's malaise.
The follow up '9' ploughed a similar furrow but, Christ, did it burrow deep.... It was all so bleatingly bleak; 'Do you miss my smell"? etc. Too much blood from the same vein; what was once affecting and winning was effectively becoming a whine.
And now, after an 8 year hiatus comes 'My Favourite Faded Fantasy', his long awaited follow up and... Damien's still not a happy chappy - “You could be my poison, my cross, my razor blade/ I could love you more than life if I wasn’t so afraid.” - but this is a misery that loves company.
Sure, there's angst akimbo but there's now a keening subtlety to the drama; a haunting beauty to the melancholy that is engaging: truly captivating.
Here's Rice talking about his creative process:

Recorded in icy detachment at Sigur Ros's studio in Iceland, Rik Rubin's production is lush and lean; subtly expansive, allowing Rice to exhail. He's given the time and space to be genuinely sorrowful. The orchestrations and extended fades are a sign that airplay is the last thing on his mind.
As you can see from the video below, Damien won't be getting the next Coke or John Lewis ad, but this is sterlingly strong, engrossing, engaging, fractured, fucked up and full of hope.
It's all quite lovely.
Not so much a come back as a recovery...

Tuesday, 14 October 2014

'What's a clown when there's no-one around?There's no joy in laughing on your ownPlease forgive me for my funny bones'

Music just seeps out of some folk.
This song, I believe, just made it as a 'B' side.
Are there still such things as 'B' sides?
Are there such things as 'funny bones'.
Boo is no genius.
Boo is not groundbreakingly original.
He is heartbreakingly musical and admirably hard working.
He could just be the most talented 'songwriter' in the UK.
Boo's latest release 'My Name in Brackets' is a retrospective.
Hardly a 'Best Of' because it's only a single CD.

You'd need a box set to do Boo's back catalogue justice.
Sorry to gush but, if you aren't aware of Boo 'My Name in Brackets' would be a good place to start.
As would this song.
Music just seeps out of some folk...
A 'B' side.
Hilarious!

Monday, 29 September 2014

I've lifted the following biog from David's website; a more personal dissection of this top bloke will follow later...

David Bridie is the quiet achiever of Australian music, seven time ARIA award winning songwriter and composer David Bridie has enjoyed a distinguished career as one of Australia’s most innovative musicians. With his repertoire as a recording artist, soundtrack composer, producer, lyricist, uniquely Australian songwriter and singer, as well as a specialist in the music of Melanesia, Bridie has certainly stamped his mark.
A founding member and songwriter of critically acclaimed musical groups Not Drowning Waving and My Friend The Chocolate Cake whose success both in Australia and across the world is well documented, Bridie has also released a number of albums under his own moniker with the 2002 “Act of Free Choice” being released in the UK, Canada and America as well as Australia. At a recent Chocolate Cake gig in Melbourne, at The Famous Spiegeltent, Bridie mused that in fact he had performed in The Spiegeltent in five different countries.
It is as a songwriter that Bridie has forged his reputation as one of Australia’s best with tracks such as This Year Is Better Than Last Year (DB), The Kiap Song (NDW), I’ve Got A Plan (MFTCC), The Koran, The Ghan and A Yarn (DB), and The Last Great Magician (MFTCC) – all confirming his individual style in painting a mural of the modern world, its geography, its political mores and its dwellers identities.

From mid-2000 Bridie released three solo albums; Act of Free Choice, Hotel Radio and Succumb. These albums see Bridie make a return to the experimental music that his earlier group Not Drowning Waving had been noted for, with Bridie’s voice and electric piano woven around a universe of found sounds, anything from Papua New Guinea conch shells to Morsecode intercepted on short wave radio, with bass and drums added over the top of lyrics that are purely and unmistakably Bridie, a ruthlessly honest musical mirror to Australia’s complex national character and wry personal insights to the state of being human.

Over the years Bridie has balanced his career as a live musician with the composition of soundtrack music, with credits for over 16 Feature films including Proof,Bran Nue Dae, The Man Who Sued God and Gone several of which received International release. His score for In a Savage Land landed Bridie the award for “Best Original Score” at the AFI Awards,“Best Original Soundtrack” by the Film Critics Circle of Australia, and “Best Soundtrack Album” at the 2000 ARIA Awards.

Credits for his 29 television/short films/documentaries soundtracks include Remote Area Nurse for

which he won an AFI Award, “Winner Best Independent Release” ARIA Award; The Whitlam Documentary, MABO; Life of an island Man, The Circuit and most recently, the feature documentary film Strange Birds in Paradise and 10 part ABC drama series The Straits. David has always explored his particular passion for Melanesian life, music and history.

Now regarded as the world’s foremost producer of Melanesian music artists, David has scored, curated and produced many films, concerts and albums in Australia, PNG and The US and has been instrumental in launching the musical careers of many of these artists including George Telek (PNG) who is now considered an elder statesman of Music in his home country and had his music released on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label. Other producing credits include Archie Roach’s “Jamu Dreaming”, Christine Anu’s “Stylin Up’ and West Papuan string band Black Paradise’s “Spirit Of Mambesak” CDs, Richard Mogu (PNG). His most recent work with Pitjantjatjara man Frank Yamma and the Countryman CD has seen Yamma’s career take off with UK and Europe tours and festival bookings across Australia and the world including the London Olympic Festival and Womad UK in 2012.

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Jones: 'To the Bone'

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'To the Bone' The New Album by Jones

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Feedback for 'To the Bone'

To The Bone is beautiful, delicate, like whispers in the wind or that glimpse from the corner of your eye. It draws you in and seduces you with both sounds and words. It's Trevor Jones' most simple and perhaps honest record - emotions stripped down 'to the bone' and the stripped down feel to the album compliment the music perfectly.If you hear a more beautiful album this year then I'll eat my Marshall gigging cap.

Macwood Fleet

I have been enjoying your excellent 'To the Bone' album over the past week. It's a quietly, powerful album that reveals more of itself upon repeat listens. The understated production works really well.

Cerdin Rogers

I just wanted to drop a quick note to say that I absolutely love the record. Although musically it’s clearly much more stripped down than In Cassidy’s Care, it is every bit it’s equal! It’s a record that I play all the way through because it is incredibly consistent and it’s almost a cliché to state that that’s a rarity these days. This being the case, it’s almost unfair to single out particular tracks but 'Phil The Hat' is one of the most moving songs that I have heard for some time and I think 'Fireworks' could be my favourite song of yours. Now I just need to write a review that will do the record justice!!!

Rob Marsh

A big thanks for, once again, producing a beautiful album. I'm clumsy with words but even the most articulate of people couldn't put down on paper just how great this album is. It simply needs to be listened to. No other artist can strike up emotions and imagery like you can, and for this I thank you.I engross myself in your albums like a great book that I can't put down. I know we're only in March but 'To the Bone' is album of the year. Anyone who says different has neither a heart or a soul.

Phil Hogarth

'To the Bone' arrived yesterday. I have listened a few times. For me is another masterprice full of wonderful melodies. Thank for your music. Un abrazo(regards).

Mario Matamoro

I have got mildly excited as my wife (Di) likes 'Books to Bed'.Just played the album 3 times in a row. I guess that you have always written close to your heart but this time it just seems more personal. I have to confess I felt the tears welling up at the end. Maybe I'm getting to be a big softie in my senior years but this album has a chunk of your soul and I think that Marcus has responded with a sensitive and sympathetic production that elevates the album. I am looking forward to getting to know it more.I failed to mention that it is very very good! I love the way it ends...

Chris Guildersleve

Bloody Hell TREV, what are you trying to do to me?? I am now going to call you the Marquis of Melancholy. You ripped my heart out and sliced it up!!! I almost got in the car this morning and drove up to give you a big old man hug!!!! Still digesting To The Bone and trying I gets head around it. One thing though, the ending, genius. Very Sigur Ros.

Nick Baker

Beautiful is how I would describe it, Ive had a good few listens now and it's everything you hope for, nothing more and nothing less...!Simply Stunning to be honest, keep going...

Geoff Wright

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